Both fretted and non-fretted stringed instruments, including but not limited to guitars, ukuleles, violins, violas, and cellos, comprise the following parts: a sound box or board having a sound hole or "f" holes, a neck and fingerboard, a nut, a head and tuning pegs, strings, and a bridge. Instruments such as violins, violas and cellos also have a tailpiece which anchors the strings. On a stringed instrument, the strings extend from the tailpiece, or bridge if no tailpiece is present, to the tuning pegs, and are raised above the fingerboard by the bridge and nut. The fingerboard of a fretted instrument, such as a guitar or banjo, has raised, longitudinally transverse bars called "frets" positioned at spaced intervals along the length of the fingerboard. The fingerboard of a non-fretted instrument, such as a violin, viola or cello, has no frets, and is flat and smooth.
In play, the tone of a particular string of a fretted or non-fretted stringed instrument is changed by changing the length of the string. When a string is depressed against the fingerboard between two frets, the depressed string contacts the frets on either side of the point of depression to change the harmonic vibration of the string, and thus change the tone of the string. The length of the string is changed on non-fretted instruments by finger pressure along the length of the string, placing the string in contact with the fingerboard. On either a fretted or non-fretted stringed instrument, different notes are sounded by strumming, glancing, picking, or bowing the strings with one hand, or a bow or like instrument, while the fingers of the other hand depress the strings against the fingerboard. Strumming, glancing, picking, or bowing a single string will create a single note. Strumming or bowing several strings simultaneously or in rapid succession so that several notes are sounded in unison, creates a chord. Generally, to play a chord, several strings must be depressed at various positions along the neck. An "open string" (a string which has not been depressed) may also form part of a chord. Chords may be played on both fretted and non-fretted stringed instruments.
When learning to play a stringed instrument, a student must learn at what point along the length of the fingerboard the string must be depressed to play a particular note, and a student must learn to read music so that he or she recognizes the written note. Particularly in the case of fretted instruments, a student must also learn which notes comprise a particular chord, learn the names of the chords, and, preferably, learn to read the written notes comprising the chords. Thus, a beginning student must learn a significant amount of information, including the parts of the instrument, note names, note locations on the fingerboard, and the construction of written music, and must expend a significant amount of time and effort before the student can obtain satisfaction from his or her efforts.
To encourage the beginning stringed instrument student and accelerate the process of learning to play notes, chords and scales, and learning how to read music, a variety of teaching devices have been employed. However, many of these devices have significant shortcomings, making them ineffective or unappealing to use. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,712,464 to Nance discloses a finger positioning guide including a flat surface which is positioned between the neck and strings of a fretted stringed instrument to present a set of uniformly colored dots beneath the strings at predetermined distances along the neck to enable a student of that instrument to play chords. The flat surface is positioned in relation to the neck and the strings by a plurality of slots adapted for engaging the frets and nut of the fingerboard. An edge limiting device is appended to the surface of the guide to further position the guide on the fingerboard. The edge limiting device may form a clamp which secures the guide to the fingerboard. The guide is made of a resilient material which allows the clamp to be retained on the neck of the instrument by spring action, thereby holding the guide securely in place on the neck. The finger positioning guide described in the patent to Nance has limited utility primarily because it is bulky and interferes with the students hand position and agility. Additionally, the Nance guide could negatively affect tonal quality.
U.S. Pat. No. 852,407 to Galbraith describes a finger positioning guide made from a sheet of pliable material, such as linen, muslin or aluminum, which extends along the length of the fingerboard, having fret openings cut throughout the material and being secured to the sides of the fingerboard and at the top of the neck of the instrument by pins in the neck and body of the instrument, in this way retaining a chart on the fingerboard of the stringed instrument. The disadvantages of this finger positioning guide include the difficulty of retaining a material such as aluminum or muslin on the fingerboard of an instrument so that the markers indicating note locations are maintained in a constant position. Furthermore, application of the guide to the fingerboard is likely to result in damage to the fingerboard in view of the nails or tacks used to retain the guide. Additionally, play and intonation are likely to be affected by stretching and movement of the guide when applied to the fingerboard and during play.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,978,756 to Feldman discloses a teaching method which utilizes optionally transparent adhesive labels which may be releasably secured to the face of a fingerboard between the frets of a stringed instrument. The labels have colored markers instructing a student where to place his or her fingers to play certain notes. The indicator labels are attached to the face of the fingerboard, between frets, by an adhesive, such as glue. The adhesive finger positioning guide disclosed in the Feldman patent is to be used in association with a mirror, and a clamp which attaches sheet music printed in reverse which can then be viewed in the mirror. The method and guide described in the Feldman patent has several disadvantages. Primarily, the guide and method are cumbersome and difficult to use. Additionally, the guide is not reusable, is likely to leave glue residue on the fingerboard, and is likely to detach from the fingerboard accidentally with use.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,153,970 to Mulchi describes a device for teaching stringed instrument players proper finger placement comprising a series of cards which may be alternately placed in position on the fingerboard of a guitar, and which are then withdrawn after the fingers are placed in the proper positions. At the very least, this method and guide is cumbersome and does not develop agility and the ability to change finger positions quickly.
U.S. Pat. No. 939,486 to Fish and U.S. Pat. No. 1,719,604 to Finney describe modifications to the fingerboards of non-fretted instruments which comprise protrusions extending from the surface of the fingerboards so that a student may feel the proper place to depress a string to play a particular note. These methods and devices for learning proper finger placement and note locations on a fingerboard have the disadvantage of being permanent and damaging modifications to the fingerboard of the instrument, which could significantly interfere with play, such as shifting positions, as the student advances in skill. Furthermore, these methods and devices do not teach note names or correlate the finger positions to written music.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,699,380 to Stewart describes a method for teaching the principle chords of a musical instrument by applying a plurality of contrasting characters to the front surface of a fingerboard indicating chords. The characters may be printed on the fingerboard, printed on a gummed label which may then be glued to the surface of the fingerboard, or countersunk in the fingerboard. Again, this method for teaching chords has the disadvantage of requiring permanent changes to the fingerboard, or applying adhesives to the fingerboard, which may damage the finish, are not reusable, and may leave a sticky residue that interferes with play, among other things.
Yet another method for teaching proper finger location on a fingerboard of a non-fretted instrument is the application of strips of tape longitudinally across the fingerboard, marking the location of certain notes on each string, from which location certain other notes can be determined. This method is disadvantageous because, as the instrument is played, the tape is warmed and tends to slide. A student using this method and relying too heavily on the position of the tape strips to locate proper notes, may never develop good intonation since he or she is very likely become accustomed to notes that are out of tune. Furthermore, the glue leaves the fingerboard sticky, interferes with play and can potentially cause damage to the finish of the fingerboard.
In summary, a variety of methods and devices have been developed for indicating note or chord locations on the fingerboard of a stringed instrument, such as a guitar or a violin. The devices include a variety of markers, including colored dots coding notes, numbers coding notes, actual note names, and neutral dots marking the proper finger positions to play a particular note or chord. A variety of means for attaching these markers to fingerboards have also been used, including glue, printing the markers on the fingerboard, inlaying the markers in the fingerboard, and by attaching fabric, plastic or paper to the fingerboard by mechanical means such as pegs, or glue. These methods and devices have significant shortcomings, because they either require permanent changes to the instrument, are likely to result in damage to the instrument, are likely to move or slip during play so that the note locations are not constant, cannot be removed and reapplied at will, interfere with play, or do not teach note names, as necessary to advance to the next level of play.
Thus, there is a long felt need for a finger positioning guide which may be releasable secured to a fingerboard of an instrument without damaging the instrument or its finish, and which does not interfere with play of the instrument when applied to the instrument. What is further needed in the art is a finger positioning guide which teaches notes names and locations on the fingerboard of a stringed instrument which may be removably applied to the instrument and used only as needed, or transferred from one instrument to another.